Fallen hero may miss rest of season

Rugby League Writer

Suspended ... Ben Barba will have to convince counsellors he is ready to return before the club gives him the go-ahead. Photo: Getty Images

BULLDOGS superstar Ben Barba's indefinite suspension may last for the rest of the season - unless he can convince counsellors and his club that he is ready to return to the NRL.

Barba, who was due to launch the NRL season on Wednesday night, was stood down on Monday by his club, whose officials blamed a ''number of issues in his personal life'' and breaches of the code of conduct.

Fairfax Media has been told that gambling, alcohol and spending, linked to the breakdown of a long-term relationship, have led to the measure. Barba was also involved in a physical altercation last week with teammate Tim Browne during a training session.

''Ben Barba is ill. He needs some help,'' Bulldogs chief executive Todd Greenberg said on Monday. ''I don't know when he will come back to playing footy - it could be six weeks, it could be six months. But he has a lot of work to do before he can get the opportunity to play football again.''

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Officials are fully prepared to sideline Barba for the entire season should he not show significant signs of a recovery. Greenberg has enlisted professional help for Barba, while conceding that the prospect of terminating his contract had been considered before being dismissed.

''We got on the front foot with him to make sure we got him some help now before this came to something that would be more drastic,'' he said. ''Simply put, he needs help. He has asked us for that help and we will provide it. He has acknowledged he has some problems and he wants help to deal with it.''

With speculation about domestic violence having been raised before the press conference, Greenberg said: ''There are a multitude of issues in the reasoning behind us stepping him down. Ben has lost his way and we need to help him find his way back. I have no doubt he can do that but he needs to take personal accountability to do that.''

But Greenberg added later: ''This is not a police matter. This a matter the club is dealing with under the club's code of conduct … he has breached the club's code of conduct and for that is paying a very heavy price.''

Barba's former partner Ainslie Currie said in a statement to Channel Nine: ''Ben and I are going through a difficult time at the moment. I just hope people respect Ben's privacy and my own.''

Barba was last year's Dally M medallist and helped the Bulldogs into a grand final. The club had been aware of behavioural problems for some time. But few could have predicted the dramatic events of Monday.

''Don't think for one minute this is [anything] other than drastic action,'' Greenberg said. ''We have just suspended the Dally M player of the year and the pin-up boy for the game for 2013. He will not be playing when we open the season and we're disappointed about that. But we have to put his welfare first. He will be having significant expertise applied to him - expertise way beyond my level of power. It will be a long and detailed process.

''The professionals tell me the most important and difficult step is to first acknowledge you need help and then to actually ask for it. Yesterday, he did those two things.

''We will help him, we will support him but, ultimately, he has to take ownership of his own life.''

In a statement, Barba said he was seeking help for ''personal issues that I face day-to-day … today is a very difficult day for me as I feel I've let my family, children, club and supporters down''.

NRL chief executive Dave Smith said that he fully supported the Bulldogs' actions.

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THE curse of the face of the NRL continues. But Ben Barba's sudden spiral from the player anointed to launch the new season on Wednesday night to being suspended indefinitely by the Bulldogs, due to "a number of issues in his personal life", is slightly different. Being the face of the game was one of those issues.